Duality
by Arayal
Summary: It's about two little boys, Dash and Dagger, that have something strange going on with them, their sad mother, a cheerful 'aunt' and a dark haired baby girl- angry mobs ensue.NEW CHAPPIE!
1. Hi, My Name Is Dash

Duality  
  
When I was really little, I thought my mom was the the biggest person in the world. As I grew I discovered that that was grossly untrue. She is the shortest adult I know. She's still the biggest part of my life, though. She's also one of the strongest people I know. Being a single woman with a pair of young boys, my twin and I, she had to be in this godforsaken wasteland.  
  
We had to move around a lot the first year of my life, until Dagger and I stopped aging at such an accelerated rate. We looked and basically *were* ten by the time that happened. Then we settled down in a small town about twenty iles north of December. We seem to grow like other boys now.  
  
My mother has always had an aura of vague sadness about her. Even when Aunt Milly came to visit with her small daughter Hannah. That was about four months after we'd been living there, six months ago. She ended up staying.  
  
Let me tell you about Hannah. She's got a sunny disposition, crystal blue eyes like her mom and a mop of dark curly hair. She's technically a little older than us, but she actually looks her age, which is about two now. Dagger and I are nuts over the kid.  
  
I've become quite curious about my origins lately. I'd see my friends out with their fathers and wonder about mine. Where was he? *Who* was he?  
  
One Saturday I approached my mother before she left for work. She works at the only saloon in town and makes good wages. She works everyday but Sunday and that's the day we clean house and do laundry. So if I want a moment with her before Saturday evening, I have to time it carefully.  
  
"Mama? Are you busy?" I asked tentatively from the doorway to our kitchen. She was finishing up breakfast, as she always did before we woke and she went to work.   
  
"Dash! You're up! Of course not, silly, I'm never too busy for one of my angels. What is it?" She brushed off her poofy, overly garish uniform in its pinks and reds, that all the waitresses at the diner had to wear. Then she smiled at me as she clipped her hair up so it didn't stick to her neck and shoulders in the oppressive 'summer' heat.  
  
"Well, it's just that I wanted to know... about my...I mean... Will you tell me about my father?" I finally blurted out.  
  
I was sorry when a sad look came over her face, but not sorry enough to say 'Never mind, Mama, we can talk about it later.' I waited patiently while she sat down in one of the chairs around the table.  
  
"Dash, I don't really know what to tell you. I wasn't prepared for this today. Could you give me some time? Just a day. I'll tell you whatever you want to know tonight, during our Saturday Evening. Okay?" She took one of my hands earnestly. "Dash, I know you want to know where exactly you came from and why your father isn't here with us. But trust me on this one thing- don't resent him because he isn't her, I believe that he would be if he could. I have to go now, I'm already late" She said standing up. "Help take care of Hannah. Bye sweetie" she kissed me on the forehead before she rushed out the door.  
  
I was so excited. I practically skipped into the room Dagger and I shared. He had the covers over his head so I yanked them off. "Hrmph. Go 'way"   
  
I ignored him. "Get up Dagger! I gotta tell you something."  
  
"What?" He demanded, sitting up reluctantly. His eyes were bleary as he glared at me. His bowl-cut hair was sticking up in all directions.   
  
"Nice look, bro" I said with a grin. He threw his pillow at me.  
  
"What do you want?"  
  
"Mama said she'd tell us about our dad tonight!"   
  
His eyes widened. "Are you sure?"  
  
"Yup that's what she just said."  
  
My grin faded a little at the thoughtful look on Dagger's face. "What?"  
  
"Well, it's just. Are you really sure you want to know?"  
  
"Of course. Aren't you?" I asked in confusion.   
  
He shrugged. "I guess. I mean, who was he? *What* was he? I mean, I know humans aren't supposed to age as fast as we did that first year. So was he an alien or something?"  
  
"I'm sure Mama will tell us." I replied, unconcerned. But I hesitated slightly. "I think. But he must have been a pretty great guy if Mama loved him." Then we were sucked back to a memory of a conversation we'd overheard between Aunt Milly and our mother.---  
  
***  
  
It had been very shortly after Aunt Milly had first come to us. Dagger and I had been unable to sleep that night so we were going to the kitchen to get something to eat. When we'd heard their voices we'd shamelessly stopped to listen.  
  
"Have you told them yet?"  
  
"No I don't think they're ready. I've tried very hard to keep them away from gossip and hearsey about him. I don't think they're ready yet."  
  
"But Meryl-"  
  
"No Milly. I'm not her anymore. I'm Maggie now. I need to keep my identity a secret for the boys' sake. God knows my name became popular enough during those first weeks. I spent a lot of time playing incognito until my appearance changed enough that I could walk around without being immediatly recognized. It nearly killed me to quit Bernardelli, and you're the only one I've kept in contact with.  
  
"If anyone found out I had his *children*... I don't even want to think about the problems that would cause. My God, could you imagine? Bounty hunters, old enemies-what if Knives somehow survived and found out?"  
  
"I see what you mean. But I still think you should tell them. They seem mature enough to handle it."  
  
"The truth is I'm not ready either. Please could we just let it go for now?"  
  
"Okay Mer- Maggie"  
  
When it had appeared that they weren't going to talk anymore we went in.  
  
****  
  
"Hey Dagger, did that mean that Mama's real name is 'Meryl'?"  
  
"I guess"  
  
"Huh"  
  
Just then there was a wail from the sitting room where Hannah's crib was set up. We both got to our feet.  
  
"I'll get it" I said, grinning. "You go, uh, fix yourself up. We'll probably end up going to the park."  
  
Dagger realized he was still only in his boxers and blushed furiously. I sprinted out before the pillow he launched could reach me.  
  
"Aww, I'm comin' Hanny" I said in a goo goo voice when I saw her standing up. Aunt Milly was still snoring in her rock-like sleep. Hannah looked at me sulkily. "Dass, up" She held her arms out to me.  
  
"Okay Hanny" I lifted her out, making faces and making her giggle.   
  
"Dass, where Daggle. 'Want Daggle!" She demanded after a moment.   
  
For reasons beyond my comprehension Dagger is Hannah's favorite person. Of course he adores her so much it's almost nausiating. (Never mind the fact that I adore her just as much^-^) I mean, who else could get away with bestowing a name like 'Daggle' on my oh so stoic twin? She's also the only one that can make us do anything she wants, no matter how silly. I swear, she has us wrapped around her cute little finger.  
  
"I'm right here, Hannah-banana" Dagger took the little girl and she cooed at him, patting his face in obvious delight at the decidedly goofy noises he was making at her.  
  
I took a moment to ponder jealously. I mean, she really ought to like me better, seeing as how I was *much* better looking... Okay, so we're both equally good looking, but *not* exacly the same!  
  
I have gold blond hair that somehow spikes when dry, but just kind of hangs there when it's wet. His is pale blonde and in a perpetually perfect bowl cut above his ears(except in the morning:3). I have really weird aquamarine colored eyes, his are violet-gray, like our mother's. We both have a tallish lanky build, and our other features are similar, but our personalities are *totally* different.  
  
I'm outgoing, vocal, and unrepentantly sloppy. I have tons of friends and I spend most of my time hanging out with them. If I don't like something I procede to tell everybody loudly. I'm also an expert whiner. My mother frequently calls me a big baby, but I usually end up getting my way.  
  
On the other hand, Dagger is serious, quiet, and painstakingly precise.(people should see the difference between my side of our room and his) My friends are his friends by default. If it weren't for me, he'd probably bury himself in books or something equally boring. He is the voice of reason none of us wants to hear, so we mostly ignore his warnings of dire consequences to our boyish mischief. He's such a downer.  
  
I was jarred back to reality by Dagger snapping a finger in front of my face. "Hel-LO. Gunsmoke to Dash. We're leaving for the park soon." He frowned at my considering expression. "Why are you being so weird, ya big broomhead?"   
  
Something glass crashed in the kitchen. I was startled because I wasn't aware there was anybody *in* the kitchen. Then I noticed that Milly was gone from her spot on the sofa. She must have gotten up while I was still out of it.  
  
"Aunt Milly?" I questioned when we got to the doorway. She was on hands and knees picking up the fragments of a coffee mug. "Are you okay?"  
  
"I'm fine boys." She tried at a normal jovial smile, but looked away from us quickly, like the sight of us hurt her. "Dagger, could you do me a favor and not call Dash "Broomhead" around your mother?"  
  
"Sure, I guess. Why?"   
  
"Old memories. That's all I'd feel right telling you."  
  
We sighed. Another dead-end clue. The only reason we didn't push was because we didn't want to jinx the information we would hopefully get tonight.  
  
"Okay, I'm going to go get myself and Hannah dressed then we can get going. You two gather up everything we'll need, 'kay?"   
  
Dagger and I worked in silence. There wasn't really anything to say, since we have this ESP-like sense of what the other is thinking. Another thing we chalk up to being twins. Then when Milly came out we were ready to go.  
  
The walk to the park was peaceful, with Hannah babbling away and asking disjointed questions about things she saw.   
  
When we got to the park, which was a small house-sized space of grass with a swing, a slide, and a few benches under a few shady trees, everyone split up. Hannah took her favorite red ball and started playing with it. Milly sat on a bench and was snoozing in minutes. Dagger sat under one of the trees and whipped out one of his ever-present books. I spotted a couple friends across the grass and went to talk to them.   
  
I swear I only turned my back for a second. When I looked back to check on Hannah, I saw a flash of red roll into the groove beneath an occupied swing. Then I saw Hannah, toddling after it.  
  
"HANNAH, STOP!" I yelled and took off after her. She paid no heed, her concentration soley on getting her ball. Dagger looked up at her, then at me. Our panicked gazes locked and he hit his feet at a dead run at the same time I took off. Hannah was in the groove now. I saw the other kid's gleeful expression as he started down. We'd never ever make it. I closed my eyes as horrible visions of her pretty little head flying off assailed me.  
  
"NO!" Dagger and I shouted together.  
  
The pained cry I expected never came. In fact, the whole day went utterly silent. Carefully, I opened my eyes. And stared.  
  
The kid was suspended in mid air.   
  
"Are-are we doing this?" I whispered.  
  
"Not anymore. Now *I* mostly am. Either get her or keep thinking 'stop' This is hard for one person!". Dagger was sweating profusely, in deep concentration.  
  
I chose to get her. I swung her and her tightly grasped ball up and started scolding her. The kid swung down as my brother relaxed. Over my voice, I noticed that everything was still quiet as a tomb. I looked up. "What?" I asked innocently of the crowd that had surrounded us.  
  
Murmurs and mutters travelled through the gathering in a low hum. Someone in the back shouted "Monsters!" other similar names were called out. I was confused. Weren't these people our friends? I stumbled backwards until I was back to back with Dagger. Suddenly the aggitated crowd was an angry mob. Milly shoved her way over and tried to shield us. Several of the people drew weapons. They were about to pounce, I knew it. I grasped for my brother's hand and held on tightly.  
  
"Wait, stop this!" A familiar voice cried out. My mother as I had never seen her burst into the circle. She had on a white dress with a black belt and stockings and a cape like thing over it all.   
  
"What do you think you're doing with my sons?" she demanded of the crowd in general. We instinctively arranged ourselves so someone was facing in all directions.   
  
"They ain't normal Maggie. Stopped that kid from swinging in mid air with their minds. We don't need no monster freaks in this town or on this planet."  
  
"They're children!" my mother cried, horrified.  
  
"Monsters" the man repeated stubbornly. "Don't matter what age they are" the mob advanced  
  
"You are not going to harm a single hair on their heads." she replied fiercly. Suddenly, she and Milly broke into a flurry of activity. Mama drew two derringers from inside her cape and Milly pulled out her huge stungun.  
  
Someone laughed. "Two derringers and a stungun? Gimme a break"  
  
"I have forty eight more under here. And that stungun can paralyze someone for a week. Just give us a trailer and we'll leave your town."  
  
We all held our breath while we waited for the answer.  
  
"Fine. You leave by sundown." The stone faced spokesman relented after talking it over with his cronies.  
  
A wide berth formed in the crowd. It seemed that no one wanted to get too close to the 'monster freaks'. Mama and Aunt Milly stayed alert and focused as we made our way through and down the road. The town seemed deserted. News of the park incident travelled fast. I sniffed a little and buried my face in Hannah's dark curls.   
  
She looked up at me and frowned in perplexity. She was completely unaware of the grevity that surrounded us. "Dass?" she patted my face in a oddly comforting gesture. "Okay, Dass?"  
  
"Yeah Hanny, I'm okay" I tried a smile for her, and she smiled brightly in return. God, I love this kid. I glanced over at Dagger who was scowling at the space in front of him. I sighed and resigned myself.  
  
We packed quickly and started loading our stuff onto a trailer an angry man had dropped off earlier. Not a single person stopped by to wish us well, not even our best friends. That hurt. It was nearly dusk by the time we were done. Hannah, after much crankyness and fit throwing was asleep. She'd finally caught on to our low spirits and she was a bit upset that no one wanted to play with her.  
  
We drove out of town in our beat-up jeep with many longing looks backward.   
  
"Why did they have to act like that?" I asked sulkily. I was up front with Mama, while Milly and Dagger were in back, Hannah on his lap sleeping against him.  
  
"Because people are stupid" my brother answered just as broodingly.  
  
Our mother interrupted carefully. "Not neccessarily stupid just... ignorant. People are afraid of what they don't understand. Don't hate them for their ignorance- pity them for it. It's important that we stop the cycle of hatred or we will never be able to live peacefully. Understand?" she asked us searchingly.  
  
"I think so" Me.  
  
"Yes Mama" Dagger. Neither of us really did.  
  
"Good" She drove up near the cliff where we had our special talks. "How about one more Saturday?" she inquired, smiling because she already knew the answer. We were hurrying to get out even as she spoke.   
  
"I'll stay with Hannah" Aunt Milly said, knowing how important these nights were to us.  
  
We took a blanket and walked nearly to the edge. There we spread it out and lay down, us on either side of her. We had a clear, breathtaking view of the stars and five moons[.   
  
"Mama"  
  
"Hmm?"  
  
"Are you going to tell us about Dad now?" She sighed. "I guess you don't have to" but my voice was ladden with disappointment.  
  
"No I will. I'm just trying to think how to start. I guess at the beginning. It all started a while ago, some five and a half years. I was working at Bernardelli Insurance Society as a claims investigator when my partner Milly and I got an unusual assignment. Find Vash the Stampede and keep him under twenty four hour surveillance...  
  
***  
  
::I'll let you fill in the blanks of the storyline from there because everyone has different interperetations.::  
  
***  
  
"... so he left that day and didn't come back. I don't know what happened to him after that. I assume he didn't make it." She stood up and we followed suit. She smiled at us and ruffled both of our heads, "My two angels. Each of you is just like him in your own ways, because I think he was an angel too."  
  
We walked back to the jeep in silence. More from shock on Dagger and my part, exhaustion on Mama's. It had been a long story that took an hour or so to tell. It was an incredible, unbelievable story.  
  
Vash the Stampede was our father. The legendary outlaw that *still* had sixty billion double dollars on his head even though he hasn't caused any mischief for three years. He was presumed dead.  
  
We loaded in the jeep and drove off, Dagger and I too preoccupied to think of looking back then. So we didn't. 


	2. The Trail

Ch. 2  
  
AN: OK, there are some words in here that you may think are typos. I assure you that most likely they are not. If you have a question ask me and I will try to figure out if it is or isn't.  
  
One week after the event that drove the five people out of this town...  
  
The saloon doors burst open making everyone present look up and move their hands a little closer to whatever weapons they might possess.   
  
The two very tall blond men that appeared headed straight for the bar and sat side by side on a couple of stools. The first wore yellow sunglasses, their concealment of his eyes a calculated intimidation. The second wore no eyewear, but the icy blue of his stare was intimidating enough.   
  
"Howdy gentlemen. What'll it be?" the bartender asked, wiping down the counter and setting out a bowl of nuts in front of them.   
  
"A mug of the house special, please."  
  
"Fine choice, what about you sir?"   
  
"A Virgin Bloody Mary"  
  
The bartender got their drinks and asked, "Thur anythin' else I can do for ye?"  
  
"Actually, there is" the sunglassed one answered. "Could you tell me where I can find someone?"  
  
"Well now, that depends on the incentive" the bartender said slyly.  
  
"How about twenty double dollars?"  
  
"Who ye looking for, I'll be more 'n obliged to help ye for that."   
  
"She's a woman named 'Meryl Stryfe'"  
  
"Hmm, can't say as I know anyone by that name. Sorry."  
  
"C'mon. I know she was here. Real short, pretty, has black hair, beautiful grey eyes, a quick temper."  
  
"Now that ye mention it...Hey Clete, don't that sound like Maggie Shaw?"  
  
"Sure does Dave" A man playing cards answered without taking his eyes from his hand.  
  
"Maggie...? No the person I'm looking for is definately named Meryl"  
  
"Brother" the other man spoke up quietly without looking away from the red drink he hadn't even sipped thus far. "It's possible she may be living under an alias."  
  
"Right. Do you have a picture of this 'Maggie'?"  
  
"As a matter of fact I do. She was a real hard worker, never gave no one any trouble. She made employee of the month ever' month while she worked here. On that back wall's a photograph of her if ye wanna take a look at it.  
  
"Thanks sir." the bespectacled man slapped down a fifty double dollar bill. "Keep the change" He gestured to his brother and they both made their way to the back of the saloon. There on the wall, in stark black and white, was a picture of the woman the two men had been searching for. The darker blond removed his tinted glasses, revealing beautiful aquamarine underneath.  
  
"Meryl..." he breathed, lifting a hand to touch the photograph. Her hair was long, and she looked a bit softer, but it was the same face he'd been yearning to see for three long years.  
  
"Bartender, where can we find this woman?" he demanded, turning back to look across the room. There was a collective gasp as the entire room got a good look at the color and shape of his eyes. Hushed whispers travelled throughout the population until everyone quieted.  
  
Vash the Stampede frowned perplexedly. "What?"  
  
"Clete, ain't he the spittin' image of that one Shaw boy? Dash, that's his name."  
  
Clete looked up and did a double-take. "I'll be. Older, but he's exactly the same. Did you know you had a son, mister?"  
  
"A, a son?!"  
  
"Two actually. The other un's named Dagger, and but for the eyes, they look like his mama's, he could be a deadringer for yer brother there, attitude and everything. That Dash, he was something. Never sad, but for that day a bunch 'o blusterin' idiots ran em outta town." Dave the bartender lamented, glowering at certain individuals in the room.  
  
"Ran out the best damn waitress I ever had. Maggie didn't say much, but for when someone said somethin' bad bout either of her boys. Hoo boy, she was a hell-cat then. Had another woman came just a few months ago. Millie, she was always cheerful, just like her little girl, Hannah. Them five people were the best thing ever happened to this town and I'll box the ears o' anyone says differnt."  
  
"They was monsters, I say. I don't give a damn how good a worker Maggie was, them brats wern't normal. Liftin' things wit ther mind, it ain't right." a drunk doofus hollered.  
  
"Settle down George. Whadda you know anyway? They stopped that little girl from gettin her head bashed in, and if I coulda I woulda done the same."  
  
The drunk sulked in his seat muttering obscenities.  
  
"Bartender," Knives Millions asked. "How old are these boys?"  
  
"Oh, I dunno, bout ten, eleven maybe."  
  
"WHAT?" Vash exploded. His brother laid a hand on his shoulder.  
  
"Calm yourself, we need more information. You said that some townspeople ran them out of town. How long ago was this?"  
  
"A week maybe? They left in the same direction as L.R. I don't know if this'll help, but Maggie, she wern't fond o' big towns. Now ye might go lookin' all over L.R., but if I was you I'd go a mite further to a nowhere, little heared-of town that ye ain't gonna find on any map, called Ambertide. It'd be my bet that you'll find Maggie there."  
  
"Why are you telling us this? It seems she deserves your loyalty more than a couple strangers like us." Vash asked.  
  
"I love Maggie like a daughter, but ever since I met my twenty-five year old son a couple years ago, after twenty somethin' years of not even knowin' he existed... Well, I got a soft spot for poor schmuck's like you. I dun wanna see ye go through what I did."  
  
"Thank you sir. Meryl, er, Maggie, she thought I was dead, I guess, or she wouldn't have left. She wasn't the kind to leave someone hanging. Not like I did her." Vash confided ruefully.  
  
"Well, go find 'er, man. An' when, ye do, ye teller Dave said any time she be needin' a job she jus needsa visit me. Teller, I wudn't no part 'o that rabid mob, and I'd put a load a buckshot into anyone what bothers her when she comes back."  
  
"Thanks. We will" Vash laid down another fifty. "Can I have that picture on the wall?"  
  
"Sure thing."  
  
Vash and Knives made their way out of the saloon and back to their jeep. "So, brother, what do you think?"  
  
"How could they be ten? It's only been two years."  
  
"Yes, but they 'would' be half plant. Remember how fast we grew that first year? We looked approximately ten, then after that we grew at the rate of humans until we were 'thirty', then stopped aging all together. Supposing they had a human gestation period, they would look eleven."  
  
"Right." Vash nodded, feeling a little better. Then it hit him, full force in the gut. "Knives, apparently I have sons"  
  
"Apparently" Knives replied with mild disgust. "With a human"  
  
Ignoring his brother, Vash took a moment to bask in the newfound knowledge of his parenthood. "I'm a 'Dad'!"  
  
"Such a human sentiment" Knives rubbed his forehead. He did want to see the childrens alleged telekinetic powers, however . "Shall we find this Ambertide, then?"  
  
"Of course." Vash gunned the engine and took off. 


End file.
